A corpora



Feb. 4, 1930.

C. B. PALMER ET AL CONTINUOUS PICKLING MACHINE Filed Nov. 1926 4Sheets-Sheet l A TTORNEYS Feb. 4, 1930. c. B. PALMER ET AL.

CONTINUOUS PICKLING MACHINE Filed Nov. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNViiffliw)x ATTORNEYS MBPM ham Cum Feb. 4, 1930. c. B.. PALMER ET AL CONTINUOUSPICKLING MACHINE Filed Nov. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I INVENTOR. Mk 3PKL'W'M/ UNITEDIAYS'TA'ZTES' onAnLEs '13. PALMER AND KRISTIAI'NYKRONBORG, or MIDDLETOWN, omo, ASSIGNORS Patented Feb. 4, I930 PATENT-OFFICE TO THE AMERICAN ROLLING MILL COMPANY, OF MIDDLETOWN, OHIO, ACORPORA- TION OF OHIO CONTINUOUS PICKLIN G MACHINE Application filedNovember 9, 1926. Serial No. 147,311.

Our invention relates to continuous pickling machines of a type whereinthe objects to be pickled are carried through a tank of pickle liquor onhangers depending from f conveyor means, without immersing the conveyormeans in the pickle liquor.

It is the object of our invention to provide a continuous pickler of thegeneral type noted,

for high speed and low speed operation as applied to the objectcarriers, for the purpose of permitting the carriers to move slowly inclose relation to each other through a pickling tank, and move rapidlyin spaced relation throughout the remainder of the mechanism, so as togreatly increase the capaclty of a machine and tank of given size, andat the same time permit of loading and unloading the sheets from theconveyor,

either automatically or manually.

It is our object to provide for a novel carrier for sheet metal whichwill be suitable for use with our machine, and to provide a novel sheetunloading device for use with the said chain.

Figure .4ijis a side elevation of one of the hook plates.

Figure 5 is a detail of the slow conveyor chain.

chain of Figureti.

Figure 7 is a sideelevation of the machine, on small scale, showing thegeneral lay out of the device.

Figure '8 is a-section on the line 8-8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Figure 7.

Figured is a plan view of the conveyor Figure 10 is a section on the,line l010 of Figure 7.

Figure 10 is a section of the line 10--10 in Figure 7.

Figure 11 is an isometric perspective illustrating the operation of thetake off device.

The machine is naturally,- where used for the picklingot'sheetmetal,avery large device, having a structural framework, cross members andbracket of structural steel, 'and no effort has been made to showfullyall of'the framework, and mounting devices of, the.

various parts in any detail, other than what is believed neccssarv foran understanding of The conveyor system, whileit is merely thel theoperation of the invention.

preferred of a number of possible forms, is the simplest which we havedevised. The, rapld conveyor has a pair of chains with:

on rails with flanged wheels, so that when the notched plates of theconveyor are not faced uprigl'itso that the carrier is held in place bygravity, the rails for the carrier, face the spaced notched plates, inwhich the rod ends? of the carriers are held, and the carriers ridesupport for the conveyor chains, so that the I chains hold the carriersagainst their rails and force them along.

The slow conveyor chains are similar to the rapid chains, but haveclosely spaced openings in which the rod ends of the carriers rest, andthese chains are wider apart than the rapid chains, with the result thatthe rapid chains can deliver the carriers to the slow chains, and liftthem away therefrom.

The rails that support the carriers thus lie outside of .the'pathtraversed by the carriers,

and rapid conveyor'devices are timed so that a carrier will be deliveredfrom one to the other without leaving any unfilled spaces.

Referring first to the framework, the same is generally indicated by thestandards 1. and

lengthwise bars 2, and braces 3. The tank is indicated. at 4. the topedges thereof serving to support the guiding rails, and sprocketbearings for the slow conveyor. Guide rails for the carriers start nearthe front of the'machineat'5, extend down where they lie along the topof the edges of the tank, and thence except-att'he top of the machine,and the slow extend a long-the tank at when they turn up again at 5 atthe delivery and return end of 1 the tank. Along the topof the frame,the

"on their supporting and engaging devices, so

rails are indicated at 5". The vertical track portions and tophorizontal portions overlap.

The conveyor chains of the rapid moving conveyor are carried on a pairof rails which extend along the top of the frame workas at 7, thencedown paralleling, but spaced from the rails at 5 in the portion 7". Theslow conveyor rails then begin and extend along the top of the tank edge.as indicated at 7 and then stop where the carrier rails turn up at 5.The rapid conveyor rails extend up and along above the tank at 7, andreturn upwardly at 7, after being brought downwardly to a point adjacentthe end of the slow conve or.- I

The sprockets for the rapid conveyor chain are indicated at 8,9, 10, 11,12, 13, 14 and 14 The sprocket 10 may be mounted in.

slotted bearings 15, whereby slack in the chain may be taken up.

The sprockets for the slow conveyor are shown at 16 and 17.

Referring next to the carriers, which are shown in Figures 1 and 2, itwill be noted that the several rails 1717 and 5 are located on theframe, at each side, by means of mounting brackets 18, secured in theframe in some suitable way. The carriers are formed of a main cross bar,in this instance a channel bar 19, to which are secured a series ofplates 20, which extend away from the base of the channel at a downwardslant. Mounted across the carrier by means of these plates is anothercross member 21, in this instance a channel turned with the hollow faceupwardly. A series of rods 22, having hook ends 23. with turned up tips24, are secured in the channel bar 21, by means of looping the ends ofthe rods as at 25 through the bar.

and clamping the rods to the flange of the bar by means of pieces 26.also 26.

Secured in the ends of the channel bar 19 are plates 27in whicharearranged the projecting rods-28. On the inner ends of the supporting andguiding rails.

, It may-be observed that the several conveyorl chains are equipped withmeans for en, a,.qing.a-nd actuating the carriers by meansofkelements'which engage the rod ends of the carriers. This'r permitsthe carriers to rock as to assume a position consistent with theircenterjof gravity. The result of this is that the rods of the carrierswill always maintain aposition such as is shown in Figure 2. when thecarriers are empty, thus facilitating mounting sheets in the carriers byupsetting them onto the hooked ends of the rods. When a sheet is held onthe rods, the weight of the parts and the nature of the overhang of thesu port of the rods, is so calculated that it wi 1 still preserve thesheet in a slightly an-.

gled position, so that it cannot tip off forwardly and fall from thecarriers. This relation is maintained even in the liquor pickling bath,since the movement is not fast, and the several carriers are closelybanked with relation to each other. Thus in the tank the friction of thepickle liquor against the sheets is not detracted from because of theirslanting with the force of the stream against them.

The slow conveyor chains are formed with CID bodies forming shoulders33, and the rodends of the carrier lie between the plates abutting theshoulders, and thus are fed along. VVhen the machine is running in timedrelation, there should be a carrier between each chain plate. v

The rapid conveyor chain is best shown in Figures 3 and 4, in whichthere are a series of plain links 34, connected by pins, and spacedapart by the plain links are the special carrier links. Thus the carrierlinks are formed of pairs of spaced plates 35, held to' the adjoininglinks by pins 36, which carry f the flanged wheels 37 by means ofwhichthe chain is supported. The plates are formed of triangular shapewith the notch 38 t herein,

of which notch the wall 39 is higher than the wall 40. I q

The rod ends of the carriers lie in the notches 38 of the plates, andwhen the conveyor chains are inverted as in their passage across thetank in the lower reach of their movement, the carrier rods can drop outof the notches to be picked up by the slow conveyor chains. and also thenotch walls 39 may thrust down between rod ends of the carriers,

where the carrier rails turn upwardly at 5".

At the receiving end of the machlne we have indicated a loading platform41, where work- ,1 men stand. and place sheets on the carrier rods, onesheet to each carrier. This task can also be performed mechanically byany device which will select a sheet from a pile, push it against therods, and then tip off the rear end so as to layit upright against therods with the lower edges in the hooks.

Referring in detail to the delivery device, we have indicated, in Figure11, and in Figures 10 and 7, a series of conveyor belts 42, forming atable of interspaced moving elements. The belts are mounted on'rolls 43,and move in the direction of the arrows, a transverse conveyor belt at44,'receivin the sheets, which are pitched outwardly an up- The spacingofthe belts 42 is such as to pick the sheets off of the carriers. Itwill be noted that the guides at the delivery end of the machine areformed so that the carriers will pass up from the tank, thence in adownward sloping direction, and then up again to be returned forreloading.

During the downward sloping path of th carriers in this end of themachine, the edges of the sheets will strike against the belts 4:2*after they pass over the innermost rollers,

and hence will be forced up, so as to be lifted from the protection ofthe tips of the hooks.

The feeding action of the belts against thelower edges of the sheetswill then act to i draw the sheets away from the carriers and feed themflat and sidewise until they are projected against the belt 44 and arefed to a drying oven or whatever subsequent process is called for.

,As so constructed the operation of the machine is as follows: Firstreferring to the empty carriers, it will be noted that they are carriedalong in widely spaced relation by the rapidly driven conveyor chains atthe top of the machine. Vhen they reach the turn Where the rails beginat 5, the chains will become inverted and will press the flange Wheelsof the carriers against the rail portions 5, thus feeding the carriersin spaced relation down the path where they are loaded by workmen, eachcarrier with one amen.- c

When loaded, the carriers pass down to the lowest position oftheirmovement, where tbe'fisupp or'tingrails thereof turn a corner andpassValong the'inner top edges of'the. t-anltf At this point the notchedplates of thera i-d conveyor chains will release the "rods 0 thecarriers, and by properly timing the operation, the slow conveyor chainswill mse'and pickup the rods, thus carrying themalong the tank slowly.In the tank the car riersfwill be bunched and move slowly, while .in therest of their journey they are spaced and moved fast. The builder canproportion hisspacing and feeds to keep the tank conveyor chains full atall times.

Therapid conveyor chains then pass up from the tank level over thesprockets 9 and r 10,"and thence down to the sprockets 11.

Just at the sprockets 11, the rails/for the carriers turn up again, asat 5, and the slow conveyor chains pass down over their sprockets toreturn to the front of the machine again.

This relation of parts results in the rapid conveyor note ed plates,when properly timed, picking up each carrier as it comes to theend ofthe tank, and by forcing its flanged wheels against the rail portions 5causing the carriers to rise, and pass across the unginning and end ofthe process of pickling,

it would be impractical to load and unload the carriers. lVithout aclose spacing and slowniovement in the tank, its extent would have to befar beyond practical limits in order to provide for suflicient picklingtime.

The movement of the sheets slightly ad vanced from vertical positionthrough the pickle liquor in the tank does not involve the moving partsof the machine, but merely the rods of the carriers, in action bytheacid. It also provides an individual pickling of the sheets by a costant current of the pickle liquor passing with maximum friction acrossthe faces, and in around the backs of the sheets. 7

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. In a continuous pickling machine thecombination with the tank of pickle liquor, of a conveyor formed ofcarriers for metal articles, and means for moving said carriers, saidmeans arranged to move the carriers relatively rapidly in spacedrelation during the periods of insertion and withdrawal of materialtherefrom, and in relatively slow Closely spaced relation during theperiods of immersion of the articles on the carriers in the tank.

3. In av continuous pickling machine the combination with the tank ofpickle liquor, of a'conveyor formed of carriers for metal sheets, andmeans for moving said carrim's, said means arranged to move the carriersrelatively rapidly in spaced relation during the PQIlOdSIOf insertionand withdrawal of the sheets therefrom, and in relatively slow, closelyspaced relation during the periods of immersion of the sheets on thecarriers in the tank, said carriers being formed of transverse membersengaged by the moviugmeans, and free to rock with relation to the same.and dependent arms for mounting sheets thereon, said arms projecting atan angle such as to keep the sheets in-a position other than vertical,thereby preventing the sheets from dropping away from thearms.

4. In a continuous pickling machine the combination with guides andtraveling feedfing'mcans, of a carrier having members In ride upon saidguides and across member terminating in endsarranged for pivotalengagement by the feeding means, and an elementfor said carrier on whichsheets of metal may be supported, said element comprising a portionagainst which the sides of metal sheets rest, and a portion to engagethe lower edges of said sheets, said element shaped to hang diagonallyunder the influence of gravity whereby a sheet may rest against the sideengaging portion thereof.

5. In a continuous pickling machine the combination with guides andaftraveling feeding means, of a carrier comprising across member havingmeans to engage the guides, and terminating in rodded ends forengagement b y the traveling feeding means, a series of depending rodsterminating in hooks which engage the edges of metal sheets that restagainst the sides, said rods connected in positive ah gnment to thecross member by means which throw the upper ends of the rods into apositionebehind the pivotal center of the rodded ends against thedirection of movement of the carrier, for the purpose described.

6. In a pickling machine, g riers passing through first a downward path,then a horizontal path along a tank of pickle liquor, and then in anupward path again, carriers having means to engage and follow saidguides, and a conveyor arrangement formed of means for engaging saidcarriers, and forcing them against the vertical guides, and carryingthem along the horizontal guides, thus giving a downward, horizontal andupward movement to the carriers.

7. In a pickling machine, guides for carriers passing through first adownward path, then a horizontal path along a tank of pickle liquor, andthen in an upward path again,

. ath, and elements carrying the carriers as escribed down to theindependent elements and lifting them away therefrom, said last namedelements moving more rapidly than uides for carcarriers having means toengage and follow I said guides, and a conveyor arrangement formed ofmeans for engaging said carriers, and forcing them against the verticalguides, and carrying them along the horizontal guides, thus giving adownward, horizontal and upward movement to the carriers, saidconveyorarrangement formed of an independent element moving along thehorizontal path, and elements carrying the carriers as described down tothe independent elements 7 and lifting them away therefrom.

8. In a pickling machine, guides for carriers passing through first adownward path, then a horizontal path along a tank of pickle liquor, andthen in an upward path again, carriers having means to engage and followsaid guides, and a conveyor arrangement formed of means for enga ingsaid carriers, and forcing them against t e vertical guides, andcarrying them along the horizontal guides, thus giving a downward,horizontal and upward movement to the carriers, said conveyorarrangement formed of an independent element moving along the horizontal

